Laportea aestuans (Urtica aestuans), the West Indian woodnettle, is an annual herb of the Urticaceae or nettle family.
| Laportea aestuans | |
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| Laportea aestuans. Ecuador | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Urticaceae |
| Genus: | Laportea |
| Species: | L. aestuans
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| Binomial name | |
| Laportea aestuans | |
| Synonyms | |
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It is possibly native to tropical Africa, although it now is widespread as an introduced species throughout both the western hemisphere and eastern hemisphere tropics and subtropics, including the USA (California, Florida, Puerto Rico),[1] Central America, the West Indies,[2] India, Sumatra and Java.
Laportea aestuans is a food plant for an edible snail, Archachatina ventricosa, native to parts of coastal West Africa. It is a weedy species in Taiwan.[3] It is a possible host reservoir in Nigeria for African cassava mosaic virus, an important plant pest of a major African food crop, Manihot esculenta or cassava.
References
edit- ^ "Laportea aestuans". Plants USDA. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
- ^ "Laportea aestuans". Flora of North America.
- ^ Hsu, Tsai-Wen; Tzen-Yuh Chiang; Nien-June Chung (March 2003). "Laportea aestuans (L.) Chew (Urticaceae), a newly recorded plant in Taiwan". Taiwania. 48 (1): 72–76. doi:10.6165/tai.2003.48(1).72.
External links
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